On Tuesday, October 29, at 9:30 a.m., the court hearing in the proceedings on the merits of a broad coalition of civil society organizations against the System Risk Indication (SyRI) will take place in the District Court of The Hague. SyRI uses secret algorithms to screen entire residential neighborhoods to profile citizens on the risk of defrauding social services. According to the coalition of plaintiffs, this system is a threat to the rule of law and SyRI should be declared unlawful.
The group of plaintiffs, consisting of the Civil Rights Platform Foundation, the Dutch Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (NJCM), Privacy First Foundation, KDVP Foundation and the National Clients' Council, sued the Ministry of Social Affairs in March 2018. Authors Tommy Wieringa and Maxim Februari, who had previously been highly critical of SyRI, joined the proceedings in a personal capacity. In July 2018, FNV also joined the coalition.
The parties are being represented by Anton Ekker (Ekker Advocatuur) and Douwe Linders (SOLV Advocaten). The case is being coordinated by the NJCM's Public Interest Litigation Project (PILP).
Dragnet method on unsuspected citizens
SyRI links citizens' personal data from government databases on a large scale. The centrally gathered data are analyzed with secret algorithms. This should reveal whether citizens are at risk of committing any of the many types of fraud and offenses covered by the system. If the analysis of SyRI leads to a risk report, a citizen is included in the so-called Register of Risk Reports, which can be viewed by government agencies.
Using this dragnet method, SyRI vets all residents of a neighborhood or area. To do this, the system uses virtually all the data that governments keep on citizens. It involves 17 data categories, which together provide a very penetrating and complete picture of a person's private life. Currently, SyRI covers the databases of the Tax Authority, the Inspectorate SZW, UWV, SVB, municipalities and IND. According to the Raad van State, which gave a negative opinion on the SyRI bill, it was hard to think of any data that does not fall within the scope of the system. Former chairman Kohnstamm of the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, who also gave a negative opinion on the system, called the passage of the SyRI legislation at the time "dramatic."
Threat to the rule of law
According to the plaintiffs, SyRI is a black box with great risks for the democratic rule of law. It is completely unclear to a citizen who may be vetted by SyRI without cause what data is used for that purpose, what analyses are performed with it and what makes him or her a risk or not. Moreover, due to the covert effect of SyRI, citizens are also unable to refute an incorrect risk report. The legal process and associated procedures become opaque with the use of SyRI.
SyRI thus undermines the relationship of trust between the government and its citizens; these citizens are, in effect, suspects in advance. Virtually all the information they share with the government, often to qualify for basic services, can be used covertly against them without suspicion or prior suspicion.
The parties to these proceedings are not opposed to the government fighting fraud. They only believe that this should be done on the basis of a concrete suspicion. The private lives of non-suspect Dutch citizens should not be searched for possible risks of fraud through dragnet actions. According to the plaintiffs, this disproportionate method does more harm than good. There are better and less intrusive forms of fraud prevention than SyRI.
Not one fraudster detected yet
The total of five SyRI investigations announced since their legal introduction have now turned tens of thousands of citizens inside out, but so far did not track down a single fraudster. This was revealed in late June 2019 by the Volkskrant, which managed to get its hands on evaluations of SyRI investigations. The investigations failed because the analyses were incorrect, because of lack of capacity and time at the implementing agencies, but also because of disagreements within the government about SyRI.
For example, last summer Mayor Aboutaleb of Rotterdam pulled the plug on the SyRI investigation in two neighborhoods in Rotterdam-Zuid, because the Ministry, unlike the municipality, also wanted to use police and healthcare data in the investigation. The use of SyRI also led to protests among the residents of the neighborhoods, who clearly expressed that they felt insulted and unfairly treated.
UN expresses concerns about SyRI
UN rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston wrote to the court earlier this month about his concerns regarding SyRI and urged the judges to assess the case thoroughly. According to the rapporteur, several fundamental rights are at stake. SyRI is described in the letter as a digital equivalent of a social investigator visiting every household in an area without permission and searching them for fraudulent cases; in the analog world, such a massive manhunt would immediately lead to great opposition, but with a digital tool like SyRI, a "what doesn't know doesn't hurt" attitude is mistakenly adopted.
Practical information
The hearing is open to the public and will take place from 9:30 a.m. at the Palace of Justice, Prins Clauslaan 60 in The Hague.
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